Recent polls all have one thing in common -- they show the President and Democrats' approval dropping like a rock. I wonder when liberals will realize the reason for the plummeting approval ratings is that they misread their mandate. The same happened with Bill Clinton, but he corrected course after Democrats suffered historic losses in 1994. Obama has plenty of time to move to the center before his next election, but congressional Democrats don't have the same luxury. Here is a bit more on the subject from my piece at American Issues Project this week.

The latest Gallup poll shows presidential approval at 51 percent, with 41 percent disapproval. To understand just how much that number has changed since the President took office in January, consider that the numbers in the same poll for the January 21-23 period were 68-12 percent. A gap of 56 percent between approval and disapproval has shrunken to 10 percent.

Americans voted on an agenda of "hope 'n change" (whatever that is), but I would argue many voted on the basis of personality and image. They chose the young, black fist-bumping rock star over the man often caricatured as a cranky, old white guy. The vote was about change from what was, rather than a vote in favor of any specific agenda. Since Obama provided few policy details during the campaign, he made quite a leap to interpret the election results as a mandate for the liberal agenda he has pursued as president, and now that is being reflected in opinion polls.
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According to the latest Rasmussen poll, "43% would vote for their district's Republican congressional candidate while 38% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent." Of even greater significance, independent voters now favor the GOP 45%-18%. The same poll now even shows women preferring the GOP over Democrats.

Another Rasmussen poll shows respondents for the first time in over two years trusting Republicans more on the issue of health care.

There is a big difference between wanting American car companies to succeed and wanting the government firing their executives and guaranteeing their warranties, just as there is a big difference between wanting more affordable health care and wanting the government to completely redesign and oversee the system. The American people are telling the President and Democrats that through public opinion polls and protests. I wonder if they are listening yet.

The Left have convinced themselves that whatever they do now, so long as we come out of the recession in the next 12 months, all will be forgiven come the 2010 midterms. That plus their having convinced themselves that once Obama signs the health care bill his popularity numbers will rebound. They have convinced themselves that the 2008 election was all about their own popularity and that it had nothing to do with the electorate's desire to punish the Republicans for their hubris of the previous 8 years.

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Instead, they're listening to the little voices in their heads. They 'won', therefore they've supposedly got carte blanc to do ANYTHING they want. And WE, the lowly peasants, don't have ANY right to object - whether through town halls, demonstrations or whatever. THEY are the aristocrats running this country - and the sooner we fall in line and let them make things 'perfect' the better off we'll all be.

This is a fundamental that Democrats will never grasp. The Elites, for reasons that escape me, somehow believe in their own intellectual superiority and moral authority. This hubris underlies many, if not most, of their public positions and hare-brained schemes, which is why they wrap themselves around such phrases as "for the public good" and "for the children" and "to save the planet".

It drips with conceit. My guess is they'll never figure it out. When the country changes course again next December, as I expect to be the case, it will be blamed on an evil campaign of destruction by the right, disloyal and stupid subjects, or the betrayal of moderate Democrats and independents. Victimized again.

I think it's a combo of the "I won" syndrome coupled with their misplace idea that they are "leaders" and as "leaders" they sometimes have to make hard decisions that the majority don't want. Unfortunately for them, they don't realize that their leadership is predicated on maintaining majority support come election time. Pissing off those who would vote for them does not help them. Big difference between a military leader making a snap, combat decision based on training and experience and a politician who wants to change how we live and not listen to their constituents because they know better. Heck, they cannot even clearly define their objectives. Pathetic.

CDR, believe me when I tell you they can clearly define their objective. Problem is, if they did it would cause a violent revolt. They need to have certain things happen for the left to be able in put the chains of socialism on us. One of the important things is to make the will of the majority override the rights of the minority. They already redefine terms. I watched a congressman on TV last night say healthcare is not a comodity. I wanted to scream at him that anything you have to get from someone else is a comodity. There can be no right to the sevices of someone else.

Obama has plenty of time to move to the center before his next election, but congressional Democrats don't have the same luxury.

President Ego won't let go. It's not in his nature. HE is incapable of error. HE makes no mistakes. Several have commented on the "arrogance" factor. The One has no problem sacrificing others to move forward on HIS ideas. We have a neophyte masquerading as an intelligent legislator and executive, yet he is none of these. Disaster is in the offing.

Hmmm, no progressives to dispute this one? Let me try and enter the Progressive/Democrat/Borderline Marxist mindset...

Poll numbers in the negative when faced with a right wing conspiracy to undermine Health Reform at all costs in an attempt to relive the glory of 1994 repub sweep of the legislature; can be ignored.

Those polls were not properly formed and therefor are invalid. They only asked if people approved of the President and the Democrats without giving them any data to think about.

Such as...

A) Do you approve of the President's attempts to help the needy, the poor, and the lower class?

B) If you were poor and had no access to healthcare without huge expense, wouldn't you want the Democrats to make certain that you an your family were taken care of at all costs?

C) Overall, do you believe that the Republicans and Right wing want to win the next election?

If the answer is Yes to all three then you obviously approve of the Pres and Legislature and disapprove whole heartedly with the Republicans.

Besides,

Many of the people of this country have no clue about how politics and government work. They don't have the knowledge or forethought to make the "tough decisions" even in the face of opposition. The people of America as a whole need to be taken care of by the government because they cannot take care of themselves due to the Rich getting Richer and keeping the poor people in there place.

The rich in this country make Millions of dollars often times sitting behind a desk while the poor and middleclass have to work 80 hours a week just to afford a home, a car or two, a big screen television, eating mcdonalds at least three times a week. And some of these people are single parents!

What needs to be done to reform this country is to let government have control of our lives. Why should you need to bust your tail just to pay for a car so you can afford to get to work? You can stay home and "take care of your family" while getting medicare and welfare.

Those evil rich men will never give money back if they have a choice, sure we are charging them close to 50% in total taxes fed and state but they feel privelaged and have no reason to give the rest of that money to charity. Why should that rich person make a million dollars? Can't they live on only 250k a year? So we should take the rest of it and give it to those families that only make 30k or under. After all, three quarters of a million dollars will make a huge difference in those peoples lives! The rich man would have put it in the bank and forgot about it.

And so I close with the remark, The fact that the polls say how much people disapprove of what we are doing; actually shows just what a good job we are doing! Lets vote ourselves a raise and then go have a beer to celebrate.

They seem to have found other, more pressing matters to concern themselves with, Justruss. Kind of odd, in a way - you'd expect that since they were so active when Obama was doing 'well', persuading (or at least trying to) that Obama was doing all the right things, now that he's cratering they'd be working hard to shore up support here.

But no - they've gone missing. (Except for Adrian, who I suspect has been missing a few pancakes from the Big Breakfast for a very long time...)

It's just that y'all have captured the essence of the liberal mindset so completely, right down to the last subtlety and nuance, that there's no longer a reason to attempt any degree of dialogue. I mean you guys have nailed it! You know just what we think, what makes us tick, and your analysis of the current scene is so spot on it's scary. What's the point?